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WATCH ABOVE: Over the years we have been covering the debate and controversy surrounding the Rogers Place downtown arena, and we’ve spoken to professor of sports management Dan Mason throughout the process. He joined Global News Morning again Thursday morning to talk about what the arena had done and will continue to do for the city – Sep 8, 2016
The day many hockey fans and Edmontonians alike have been waiting for has finally arrived. After years of debate at city hall, countless hours of construction and several disappointing hockey seasons for Oilers fans, the team’s new downtown arena, Rogers Place, is open.
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With much fanfare, the $613.7 million Rogers Place opened its doors Thursday, becoming the newest arena in the National Hockey League.
The downtown arena deal was approved in 2013 after years of back and forth between the city and the Katz Group. Then-mayor Stephen Mandel calls the arena a “spectacular, state-of-the-art” facility – worth every minute of frustrating and at some times heated discussion.
“You look at that building and you tell me it’s not worth it,” Mandel said in a recent interview with Global News.
“This is the nicest arena in North America, could be in the world. It is everything Edmontonians deserve and it’s just spectacular.”
So how does Rogers Place stack up against the five newest NHL arenas?
Cost: $375 million US ($485 million at current exchange rate)
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In this Monday, March 28, 2016, photo, workers finish construction inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
AP Photo/John Locher
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In this March 3, 2016, photo, work continues on T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. MGM officials think they will hit the jackpot with a new $375 million arena that sits in the middle of the glittering Las Vegas Strip.
AP Photo/John Locher
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In this March 28, 2016, photo, workers finish construction outside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The latest multi-million dollar development on the Las Vegas Strip features a leafy outdoor pedestrian area, 20,000 seat arena and small theater. The arena is scheduled to open April 6.
AP Photo/John Locher
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In this June 17, 2016 photo, an advertisement plays on a screen at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A National Hockey League plan to expand to Las Vegas is being cheered by fans and backers of a years-long effort to get a pro sports franchise in Sin City, but hockey will have to elbow into a crowded entertainment lineup featuring casino games, celebrity shows, Cirque du Soleil productions and pulsing nightclubs Äì not to mention boxing matches, UFC fights and events like the National Finals Rodeo.
AP Photo/John Locher
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In this Monday, March 28, 2016, photo, workers wipe down seats as construction on the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas nears completion. MGM officials think they will hit the jackpot with a new $375 million arena that sits in the middle of the glittering Las Vegas Strip.
AP Photo/John Locher
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In this March 28, 2016 photo, workers finish construction on the scoreboard inside of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The latest multi-million dollar development on the Las Vegas Strip features a leafy outdoor pedestrian area, 20,000 seat arena and small theater. The arena is scheduled to open April 6.
AP Photo/John Locher
Before T-Mobile Arena opened, Barclays Center in Brooklyn was the newest arena in the league. While the Islanders didn’t move into the arena until 2015, the facility opened its doors in 2012.
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Less than one season in, the team was already looking for ways to cut ties with the arena, according to a report by the New York Post.
Ground was broken: March 11, 2010
Arena opened: 2012 (New York Islanders moved in in 2015)
Capacity for hockey games: 15,795
Cost: $1 billion US ($1.3 billion at current exchange rate)
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The New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks stand for the national anthem prior to their NHL hockey game at the Barclays Center, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015 in New York.
AP Photo/Adam Hunger
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The New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders skate during the third period of a preseason NHL hockey game, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, in New York. The Devils won 3-0 during the first ever hockey game at Barclays Center.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
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People walk by the Barclays Center, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The New York Islanders hockey team, who formerly played at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., will now call Brooklyn home when they open the 2015-2016 season on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
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The New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks stand for the national anthem prior to their NHL hockey game at the Barclays Center, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015 in New York.
AP Photo/Adam Hunger
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File-This Sept. 21, 2012, file photo shows New York City police officers patrolling outside the Barclays Center, Brooklyn's new area and home of the Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball team, in New York. Calling it a 'season of learning a lot,' Brett Yormark said he is pleased with the New York Islanders' first year in Brooklyn. "We had to make some adjustments," said Yormark, the Chief Operation Officer for Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, which oversees business operations and marketing for the Barclays Center, the Islanders and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. "I live by the mantra you have to show progress, week to week, month to month, and I think we've done that in all areas of the business." (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Cost: $321 million US ($415 million at current exchange rate)
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FILE - In this Oct. 7, 2010, file photo, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers prepare to face off in the season-opening hockey game at the new home of the Penguins, the Consol Energy Center, in Pittsburgh. With its TV contracts with NBC and Versus expiring after this season, the NHL enters negotiations bolstered by improved ratings. The league now hopes to increase its exposure.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File
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Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Famer and co-owner Mario Lemieux pours a vial of water from the ice at the Penguins' former home onto center ice during opening ceremonies of the Consol Energy Center before the first regular-season NHL hockey game at the arena, between the Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010, in Pittsburgh.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
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In this photo made with a fisheye lens, Pittsburgh Penguins fans watch their NHL Hockey team practice for the first time on the ice at the new Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
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A banner with the name of the new arena where the Pittsburgh Penguins will play, hangs over the construction site after the naming rights were announced at a news conference in Pittsburgh, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a 21-year deal for naming rights to the new arena where the Penguins will play. The name of the new arena will be the Consol Energy Center.
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic
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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, third from left, talks with a reporter, as teammate Matt Niskanen, right, clears out his locker at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Sunday, June 9, 2013. The Penguins were swept in four games during the Eastern Conference Finals NHL hockey series by the Boston Bruins.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
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Fans gather outside Consol Energy Center before a first-round NHL playoff hockey game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Rangers in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 13, 2016.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
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The crowd waves towels and cheers as lasers and spotlights swirl over the ice at Consol Energy Center before Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sunday, May 22, 2016, in Pittsburgh.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
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The Pittsburgh Penguins skate during an NHL hockey practice at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Sunday, May 29, 2016. The Penguins are preparing for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the San Jose Sharks on Monday, May 30, in Pittsburgh.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Cost: $377 million US ($487 million at current exchange rate)
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New Jersey Devils fans watch the face-off to start the game on opening night against the Ottawa Senators during NHL hockey Saturday night, Oct. 27, 2007, at the new Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
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New Jersey Devils fans enter the atrium of the new arena for the first time on opening night against the Ottawa Senators during NHL hockey actionnam Saturday night, Oct. 27, 2007 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
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Work continues on the streets around the new Prudential Center arena in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. The new home of the NHL New Jersey Devils is scheduled to open Oct. 25, 2007, with a concert by New Jersey rockers Bon Jovi.
AP Photo/Mike Derer
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A worker attaches seats at the new Prudential Center arena in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. The new home of the NHL New Jersey Devils is scheduled to open on Oct. 25, 2007, with a concert by the rock band Bon Jovi.
AP Photo/Mike Derer
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Construction work continues on the interior of the new Prudential Center under construction in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, May 30, 2007. The $377 million arena will be the home of the NHL New Jersey Devils hockey team in the fall as well as concerts and college basketball.
AP Photo/Mike Derer
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New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek poses inside the new Prudential Center under construction in Newark, N.J., Wednesday, May 30, 2007. The $377 million arena will be the home of the NHL New Jersey Devils in the fall as well as concerts and college basketball.
AP Photo/Mike Derer
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The newly named Prudential Center, the future home of the NHL New Jersey Devils hockey team, in downtown Newark, N.J., displays a banner with the name for the first time Monday, Jan. 8, 2007. Prudential Financial Inc. announced Monday they will pay $105.3 million in a 20-year deal that will label the new hockey arena under construction in downtown Newark the Prudential Center.
AP Photo/Mike Derer
Cost: $225 million US ($291 million at current exchange rate)
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FILE - This April 12, 2010, file photo, shows an entrance to the Jobing.com Arena home of the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey playoff team in Glendale, Ariz. The city of Glendale has called for a special meeting on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, to determine whether to end an arena lease agreement with the Coyotes, further clouding the team's future in the desert. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
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FILE - In this April 12, 2011, file photo, the Jobing.com Arena, home of the NHL hockey Phoenix Coyotes, sits empty before a Stanley Cup playoff game in Glendale, Ariz. The city of Glendale has called for a special meeting on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, to determine whether to end an arena lease agreement with the Coyotes, further clouding the team's future in the desert.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
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FILE - In tis Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, file photo, Jobing.com Arena, right, owned by the city of Glendale, Ariz., where the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team currently plays home games, and University of Phoenix Stadium, left, where the Arizona Cardinals football team plays are shown in Glendale. The head of Ice Edge Holdings, one of two ownership groups interested in purchasing the troubled Coyotes hockey franchise, which is currently owned by the National Hockey League, says the company has signed a memorandum of understanding on a new lease with the city of Glendale that could pave the way for a purchase of the Coyotes hockey team. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
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FILE - In this April 14, 2010, file photo, the Phoenix Coyotes fans create a "White Out" by wearing white clothing to the game and they cheer during the first period of a first-round NHL playoff hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings in Glendale, Ariz. The NHL is praising the lease agreement between Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer and the city of Glendale, saying it will "finally lead to a transition of ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes." The city announced Friday, OCt. 15, 2010, that it had reached an agreement in principle with Hulsizer on a new lease for the team to play in the Jobing.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)